Limousine licence bid fails following illegal operation

The Deputy Traffic Commissioner for the East of England, Marcia Davies, has refused a Waltham Cross chauffeur’s operator licence application after giving him a chance to admit he got it wrong.

Christos Menicou, who trades as TIS Limos, appeared before the Deputy Commissioner in August in Cambridge, as a result of concerns about his application for a licence to operate one limousine.

At the public inquiry, Ms Davies heard that Menicou submitted the paperwork for a an operator’s licence on 18 May 2011 but was subsequently witnessed – two days later – using a white Ford stretch limousine in Lincoln Inn Fields.

The incident, a City of London police officer reported, revealed the vehicle was not displaying a valid operator’s licence disc or Public Carriage Office (PCO) plates.

The inquiry heard how the police officer made enquiries with the applicant about his use of the vehicle. Menicou indicated he did hold an operator’s licence authorising the vehicle but claimed that it was due for renewal and had been sent away.

In evidence to the Deputy Traffic Commissioner, Menicou said he was waiting for an exemption letter for the vehicle and that his Public Carriage Licence had expired four or five months prior to the hearing. He also told Ms Davies that he had not been paid for the journey on 20 May because it involved members of his family.

Following an adjournment of the proceedings, Menicou produced documents relating to vehicle exemptions. But the regulator found this paperwork did not match up to a PCO licence issued to Executive Limousines, which the applicant claimed to be a partner in. He also told Ms Davies that he was unable to obtain a PCO licence in his own name because he lived outside of London.

After considering all of the evidence, the Deputy Commissioner determined that Menicou did not hold a licence when he was stopped on 20 May.

“When the police made their checks they found no record that Mr Menicou held a licence,” she added.

“I concluded that he had been using a stretch limousine all this time when he should not have been. The adjournment gave Mr Menicou the opportunity to come back to the hearing and admit he got it wrong and did not hold a licence but he failed to do that”.

The Deputy Traffic Commissioner also informed the applicant, in a written decision issued on 05 September, that her clerk had contacted the Public Carriage Office, who confirmed that Menicou had not held the licence produced in evidence during the inquiry.